The New York courtship of LeBron James began in earnest when the scheduling gods curiously put his only appearance at Madison Square Garden on the same day as the Yankees’ World Series victory parade.

If you believe in conspiracy theories, then this is right up there with the “chilled” envelope pulled by David Stern in the 1985 Draft lottery, putting Patrick Ewing in New York. You mean LeBron, a die-hard Yankees fan, gets an up-close look while the city is being painted in pinstripes? Is there a better marketing opportunity?

Is this better than anything Madison Avenue could dream up?

The Knicks hope the intoxicating celebrity factor will be enough to sway LeBron next summer as a free agent, because that’s all the Knicks really have in their favor. They can’t offer more money. They can’t offer a better collection of teammates, at least not right away. They can offer Spike Lee while Cleveland offers Drew Carey. They can (and will, you watch) get Spike and Chris Rock, among other celebrity row fixtures, to make a recruiting film in which famous people explain to LeBron why playing in New York will be far more enjoyable than playing in Cleveland.

(Sample pitch from Rock: “Hey LeBron, where you celebratin’ after a tough game in Cleveland? Arby’s?”)

A handful of the Yankees, still smelling of champagne, will be strategically seated at courtside Friday, making LeBron the second-most loved athlete in the house … if Derek Jeter shows up.

Then there’s C.C. Sabathia, big basketball fan and friend of LeBron’s from when Sabathia played in Cleveland; he left for New York and scored an instant jackpot, both with money and a ring. The video screen will constantly show their faces and they’ll get a standing ovation, all designed to show LeBron what it’s like to be a champion in New York. And the fans, no doubt, will chime in, cheering LeBron at warmups (like, who else will they cheer this year?), gushing whenever he does something spectacular and chanting “MVP,” as they did last year, when he dropped 52 on the Knicks.

All this will play to LeBron’s ego and convince him that a star of his magnitude needs to be in New York. That theory, by the way, is obsolete. Maybe 20-25 years ago, a star could receive better perks in New York, as Reggie Jackson did when he left the small market A’s. But with the global media and advertising of today, that’s not really necessary. LeBron blew up commercially without ever leaving Cleveland, and that will continue to be the case if he stays in Cleveland.

Obviously, the big factor for LeBron is collecting championships and whether his best chance is in Cleveland with a Cavs’ team that’s probably third-best behind Boston and Orlando and lacks a starry supporting cast, or a Knicks team being furiously stripped and rebuilt on the fly. The Knicks hope it also comes down to the stars and whether LeBron wants to hang with his buddy Jay-Z after the game, or retire to his palatial pad in Cleveland and call it a night.

That’ll be LeBron’s decision to make next July. And guess what? The Yankees should be in first place then, too.

Friday, November 6 @ 8pm EST on ESPN Cleveland Cavaliers at New York Knicks!

The game started with Superman Dwight Howard’s dunk bringing down the goal — literally — and the crowd in the “Q” oohed and aahed. It seems like Howard doesn’t know his personal strength but Team Magic proved that it is strong enough to take down the Cavaliers.

When the game started the Cavs had all the momentum. They have only lost two games at home all season, they had won their first eight playoff games – they seemed ready to sweep everyone out of their way to being champions. They came out firing on all cylinders right from the get-go and dominated the Magic for most of the first three quarters. LeBron and the entire team seemed focused, forceful and fierce. They seemed invincible. The referees seemed to even help the Cavs at times by giving them calls that should have gone the other way. This seemed like it would be an easy victory and the Cavs would blow the Magic out of the water.

LeBron had a terrific game – he was simply awesome but he alone cannot beat a team that can get really hot at anytime during the game because of their 3-point shooters. James even broke his career playoff high – he scored 49 points but his bench did little to help him offensively. For most of the second half it looked like the Cavaliers of old — they gave the ball to LeBron and watched him hold the ball for 20 seconds then shoot. That strategy won’t work against the Orlando Magic.

Coach Van Gundy strategy of putting Mickael Pietrus (who did a GREAT job) on James allowed Hedo Turkoglu to put more energy in his offense and he ended up with 15 points and 14 assists. In addition Zydrunas Ilgauskus is a terrible matchup for the young Super-strong Howard who had a sensational game and ended the night with 30 points and 13 rebounds. Illgaukus is too old and slow to defend Howard in the paint or guard Lewis and Turkoglu on the pick and roll. The Cavs weren’t able to get back in transition and seemed totally unprepared when the Magic kicked-out for threes off the fast break. Rashard Lewis had a terrific game and ended the night with 22 points.

Turkoglu and Lewis combined for 21 of Orlando’s 29 points in the fourth quarter and Lewis buried the game winning 3-pointer with 14.7 seconds remaining!

The “Q” crowd started the game oohing and aahing but filed out of the Quicken Loans Arena stunned and silent.

There should be no political correctness during the playoffs and that’s the way it should remain. Supporters should not hide their love for their favorite teams. I understand players being diplomatic because they don’t want to provide fodder that will annoy, irritate or anger their opponents. But I’m not a player so I don’t have to be genteel.

I’m simply a fan who loves basketball and I want to see a Kobe/LeBron final. I specifically didn’t say Kobe versus LeBron or LeBron versus Kobe. Simply a Kobe/LeBron final. I want to see a modern day gladiatorial style sports battle.

No disrespect to the Magic or Nuggets but I hope Team Kobe and Team LeBron bounce you out of the way – quickly.

I am not completely delusional; I do know that both the LeBron Cavaliers and the Kobe Lakers face teams that could in fact maybe possibly beat them.

Yes, the Denver Nuggets swept through their first two rounds and the Lakers had to go to a game 7 in their second round. But the Lakers are consummate warriors and I believe that they will come out to battle every night against the Nuggets. I think their every-other-game lackadaisical play against Houston is a thing of the past and taught the Lakers a lesson about public perception and they now have something to prove so they will come out with crazed passion and fervor!

So, can the Nuggets get pass the Lakers who have home court advantage?

There is also the really, really far-flung possibility that Orlando might come out roaring and magically upset Cleveland’s chances of going to the finals buuut NOT so much. I have heard from a not so reliable source that Team Magic is spending today in Church and lighting candles for St. Christopher, the patron saint of sports because in order to win this series Orlando will have to win at least two close games andwin at least one game, maybe two, in Cleveland. I don’t think that will happen.

A Kobe/LeBron showdown between these two friends is what most of us want to see but our gifted athletes have to defeat some great teams to get to the finals, so go ahead and freely and unapologetically root for the Lakers or Cavaliers. But as always the human factor will come into play:

Which team will remain healthy?

Which team has the mental strength to put the living fear in their opponent?

Steve Kroft of 60 Minutes interviewed King James for this week’s broadcast. While they walked the court at the King’s old high school in Akron, Ohio James bounced a basketball. “Are you going to do anything with this?” asks Kroft.

Before Kroft barely finishes the sentence, James nonchalantly flips the ball underhanded at the backcourt hoop about 60 feet away and SWISH!!! — Nothing but net!

“You got it?”asks a smiling James to the cameraman.

“How many times can you do that in a row? asks a dazzled Kroft. “I’m one take, baby, that’s all. I’m just one take,” laughed James.

Sunday night in a pregame interview at the Nets’ Izod Center (Cavs 96/Nets 88) the subject of the rivalry between LeBron James and Dwyane Wade came up.It was mentioned that they’ll never match up in an NBA Finals if one of them doesn’t switch conferences after the 2010 free agent market period.

“It doesn’t matter — whatever happens, we’ll go against each other,” James replied. “Maybe we’ll go against each other in practice. That would be fine.”What the heck does that mean??? Is LeBron saying that he and Dwyane will be in the same conference soon enough?

Will Dwyane Wade go to Cleveland?

Will Wade and James both go to the Knicks?

This is the kind of cavalier chatter that will cause Cleveland fans to freak and Knicks fans to wish upon a star.But in reality, why would LeBron leave the Cavs?Everything in Cleveland is created with him in mind – in reality he IS King James of Cleveland.If King James won’t go to the mountain, maybe the mountain will go to Cleveland.

My nine year old nephew Elijah (a H-U-G-E Kobe fan!) will vehemently disagree with the title of this post.But Elijah, Auntie is merely using GQ’s words.

I LOVE GQ magazine.Even though it’s a “men’s” magazine I rarely miss a month.This is a well written piece that had me living vicariously through the “GQ 6” and it had me chuckling to the end.I’m with my nephew – I think Kobe is totally awesome, but so is LeBron :-).

Six pale, earthbound desk jockeys from GQ challenged the greatest basketball player on earth, also known as LeBron James, to a game of basketball at the time and place of his choosing. Unfortunately, the challenge was accepted

In retrospect, obviously, it was too good to be true, but in the grip of the fantasy we didn’t see it that way. We spent long stretches of our workdays talking about how there are five of us and only one of him, or how Trent and Will are nearly as tall as he is, or how one man, I don’t care if he is the greatest basketball player on earth, can only cover so much ground. It’s not like he’s a Transformer.

Andy, our executive editor/player-coach/liaison to LeBron’s publicist and the Cavaliers’ PR folks, sent us the following e-mail in late November: “It is on. Team GQ will be traveling from New York City to Cleveland, Ohio (in a van, make and model to be determined), on Sunday, December 7. We will be playing LeBron James, five-on-one, at 1 p.m. on Monday, December 8, at the Cavs practice facility. I repeat: It. Is. ON.”

The predictable flurry of YouTube clips soon followed—LeBron dunking from the free-throw line, LeBron blocking a shot by Chris Duhon all the way out to half-court, LeBron taking flight from ten feet out and throwing down a dunk of such unrestrained fury over Damon Jones that it will forever be the most memorable moment of Jones’s NBA career. Again, Andy via e-mail: “If we’re lucky, he’ll just jump over us, and we won’t suffer the indignity of taking his junk square in the face.”

But then Adam started in with the X’s and O’s—how we need to force LeBron left, how three-pointers are his Achilles’ heel, and how he, Adam Rapoport, style editor at Gentlemen’s Quarterly and occasional wearer of skinny white jeans, was prepared to take the charge if LeBron drove into the lane. Over the next week or so, as plans solidified (we would be driving to Cleveland not in a van but in an Escalade, a hybrid Escalade!), the delusional chatter continued. There was even talk at one point of “allowing” him a teammate—one of his Akron boys, maybe—because five-on-one couldn’t possibly be a game, and it would be kind of embarrassing if we beat him too handily. At the very least, we all agreed (with the exception of Andy, who is always the voice of reason, and Fred, who’s been around longer than the rest of us and possesses a veteran’s hard-earned wisdom): Mr. Chosen One was going to have to work to make it a game. We weren’t driving eight hours to look like a bunch of assclowns.

you can see the Nike billboard from the interstate. LeBron’s massive, striated arms outstretched, a faint halo of chalk dust surrounding him as he gazes skyward. It’s ten stories high and 212 feet wide and dominates the eastern face of the Sherwin-Williams building, which is basically across the street from Quicken Loans Arena, or the Q, where the Cavs play their home games. Last year, federal officials tried to force the city to take it down because it violates the 1965 Highway Beautiﬁcation Act, which apparently forbids a billboard from being within 660 feet of a major highway. (Technically, the dispute was over a previous version of the banner, an equally stunning if less messianic image of LeBron in midflight, the ball cocked high above his head.) But to his great credit, Ohio’s governor, Ted Strickland, refused to remove the billboard, referring to it as a “beautiful display of commercial art” that the people of Cleveland have the rare and wonderful opportunity to enjoy. He’s got that right. It’s also a bit of a reality check if you happen to be among a group of magazine editors arriving in the frigid city at night and pulling over to the side of the road to take in just how physically awesome the man is whom you’ll be playing against the next day. Let’s just say it makes you question some things.

The crowd at ‘The Garden’ greeted number 23 with an ovation worthy of a King. Jay-Z, Beyonce, Spike Lee and other celebrities in the audience gave the night a big-game feel and Madison Square Garden sure like heck has not looked or sounded this good in years.

King James left the Garden Tuesday night with a message for Knicks fans, “You have to stay open-minded,” he said, referring to July 1, 2010 when he becomes a free agent.

As if there’s a single Knick fan out there who would oppose him coming to New York in 20 months. Heck no, we want LeBron in NYC! We can’t wait for his homecoming!

But that’s not the issue. It’s all about whether James wants to come to New York to play for a Knick team that right now doesn’t even exist. There’s no starting five. No bench. There’s just a team president with a game plan and all kinds of cap space to see it become reality, along with a coach who James calls “an offensive mastermind.”

That’s not a lot to sell, but that can change in an instant. It’s not as if James would want to join the current Knicks team, anyway. The Knicks were pathetic Tuesday night as they worked in two new players – Tim Thomas and Al Harrington – against one of the East’s top teams.

Mike D’Antoni wasted his time and money getting a technical near halftime. “When you get beat by 30,” he said later, “it’s OK.”

Actually, the final margin was 18, 119-101, but it did seem like a 30-point loss. With James scoring effortlessly and the Knicks a study in chaos, this was one was over after about 13 minutes. There must have been a time in the fourth quarter, when James did not play, when he must have wondered what he’ll be coming to in 2010 if he leaves Cleveland.

Beyond James, Knicks president Donnie Walsh’s strategy can be summed up in two words: Think big. Big as in a quality big man who can help get the Knicks back to title contention.

While James flirted with Knicks fans, Walsh won’t even concede that James will be free in two years, let alone be the top player on his board.

“It’s two years from now and guys are playing on other teams,” he said. “A lot of things can happen between now and then.”

But one thing almost certainly won’t change. Walsh will try his best to find a big man to pair with James.

He doesn’t have to be the second coming of Patrick Ewing but he can’t be a stiff. As Walsh explained, “I’ve always thought that you had to have a really good big man to have a great team.”

The NBA has become more and more of a wing player’s league, with James and Kobe and Paul and all the rest. But you still need a dominant big man to win. Just as the Celtics had last June with Kevin Garnett, and as the vast majority of champions almost always have.

“I think you have to have a big guy who can do the real important things,” Walsh said the other day. “Scoring, maybe. To me, it’s more about rebounding and blocking shots and providing the intimidation inside. You need those things to contend.”

The beauty of the deals Walsh made last week is that he’ll have plenty of money for James and a big man.

“It’s a huge advantage when you’ve got a great big man,” Walsh said. “When you have a guy like that, you can really succeed.”

The success will come when James signs a long-term deal at the Garden.

If you need to keep an open mind for that event, you officially need help. 🙂